At noon the next day, Tian Guo hurriedly had lunch, took advantage of the lunch break to borrow a bicycle from Guan Zhangyang, and went out to the Beijing Hotel.

Riding along the street under the sun all the way, I began to drill the alley when I arrived at Zhengyi Road, and I finally found the right place after carefully searching for it. At lunchtime, the alley is quiet, except for two children sitting on the polished gray doorway pier and playing. Tian Guo pushed his bicycle back and forth in the alley twice, and he didn't see the legendary person holding a foreign exchange coupon, so he muttered in a low voice, "Do you want a coupon, I have it here." "Scalpers.

Where did they go? Went home to graze?

Tian Guo had the heart to inquire with passers-by, but he was afraid of causing trouble, so after thinking about it, he decided to go to the door of the Beijing Hotel first. Foreigners and Hong Kong people also have foreign exchange coupons in their hands, and many scalpers are squatting in front of the hotel to exchange huàn with them.

In the past eight years, the Beijing Hotel only received foreign guests and Hong Kong and Macao compatriots, Tian Guo did not dare to stand at the door rashly, pushed his bicycle and parked under an old locust tree on the side of the street and decided to explore the situation first. was stretching her neck to look in the direction of the gate, and suddenly a short-haired eldest sister about forty years old wearing a white cloth gown and gray pants suddenly came over.

"Girl, do you have any extra vouchers?"

Tian Guo couldn't cry or laugh, thinking that I hadn't found it yet, "Sister, I'm not a scalper, I'm also here to exchange foreign exchange coupons." ”

The eldest sister raised her forehead and smiled, "Hey, seeing that you are dressed so fashionably, I thought you were a tour guide with a group, and you dare to be the same as me." With that, the two chatted. It turned out that the eldest sister was planning to buy a bicycle. She and her husband both work in a large factory, there are many people in the factory, thousands of people, the two of them have waited for five years, the children have been promoted from primary school to junior high school, and they have not waited for industrial vouchers and bicycle tickets, "I really can't wait, if I wait any longer, my children should work." Thinking that her children had never ridden a bicycle of their own when they were so old, the eldest sister decided to buy it directly with a foreign exchange coupon.

"Although it costs a little more, it is better than waiting indefinitely." The eldest sister said.

Tian Guo nodded, appreciating that the eldest sister has a flexible brain and is not rigid, better than those masters in the barbershop, at least she can quickly accept new things, instead of being afraid and criticized, and she sees the exchange voucher as if it is a tiger and a poisonous snake, in fact, it is fragrant.

However, there was a question Tian Guo couldn't understand, so he asked her: "Eldest sister, if you get the foreign exchange coupons, how do you plan to enter the friendship store?" ”

Chinese are not allowed to enter the friendship store, even if there is a box of foreign exchange coupons in your hand, if you can't go in, it is a piece of waste paper. Tian Guo didn't come up with a headache after thinking about it for a night last night, and he was so anxious that he almost had a headache, and then he gritted his teeth, thinking about getting the foreign exchange voucher first, and talking about the rest later.

The eldest sister sighed helplessly, obviously also worried about this matter, "Anyway, it is definitely not easy to enter the friendship store, that place is stricter than the government/government machine/customs control." Just a few days ago, there was a stubborn owner in our alley who thought it was reliable to pretend to be Japanese and walk in, after all, we looked alike, both with black hair and yellow skin. The man was quite funny, and in order to look more Japanese, he went to Xidan Mall to buy a top hat and a windbreaker. You know that kind of hat, right? The kind that is common in Japanese movies. The eldest sister raised her hand and gestured, and when she saw Tian Guo nodding, she continued: "Sometimes the doorman is not strict, if you are lucky, follow behind the foreigner or pretend to be a little bit, coax the doorman to stop, and let you in without checking your passport." ”

"Did the recalcitrant go in later?" Tian Guo was more concerned about this, and if the stubborn master succeeded in deceiving the doorman, then she could also try it again.

The eldest sister shook her head, and seemed to be a little crying and laughing, "Don't mention it, people checked very strictly that day, and they were not allowed to enter without a passport, and the stubborn master couldn't speak Japanese. Later, the stubborn owner was anxious and directly scolded the street "your uncle". You said, this Chinese is all chattering, can people let him in, it's good if he doesn't call the police. ”

It seems that it is not easy to enter the friendship store, there must be courage and resourcefulness and luck, Tian Guo can speak a few words of Japanese, but what if people have to look at their passports?

Just as he was looking down to pay attention, several blonde foreigners walked out of the Beijing Hotel, talking and laughing all the way to a gray van parked not far away. At that time, it had just opened, and the people who came to Beijing to travel were all small groups, and most of them were middle-aged and elderly, Tian Guo felt that the opportunity had come, leaned his bicycle against the tree, and walked up quickly.

The eldest sister followed closely behind her, with a look of surprise: "Do you speak English?" ”

Tian Guo didn't say anything, thinking that he would let you see my strength for a while. It is estimated that just after lunch, those foreigners walked very slowly, and seeing that there was no Chinese tour guide on the side, Tian Guo seized the opportunity to ask a blonde old lady with a kind face in English: "Hello, do you have a foreign exchange coupon?" I'll exchange it with you. ”

At first, the old lady was startled, staring at Tian Guo who suddenly appeared in front of her with a pair of blue eyes, and then when she heard that she spoke English fluently, the old lady let down her guard, "Foreign exchange coupons, is this it?" She graciously pulled out a few from a small wallet that was in her outer pocket.

There are two horns, one and two dollars, and five and ten dollars.

"This is it!" The eldest sister behind her snorted, very excited.

Tian Guo was also very excited, but he didn't expect to squat for more than ten minutes and really bumped into it, so he quickly took out the money from his pocket and said in English: "Foreign exchange coupons are equivalent to RMB, except that they can't be used in friendship stores, they can be used in other stores in China, and it's no problem to exchange them for US dollars, can you change them?" ”

“OK！” The old lady shrugged her shoulders and said cheerfully, not taking this as a big deal.

Tian Guo felt that this foreign old lady didn't seem to know that foreign exchange coupons were very scarce, but they were actually worth more than RMB, so she had to get the foreign exchange coupons quickly before the tour guide came. The eldest sister didn't understand English, so she saw Tian Guo counting the money in her hand, and she was busy taking out the money prepared in advance from her pocket.

"How many vouchers do you have now?" Tian Guo asked.

The old lady counted: "17 yuan." ”

"Huh?" Tian Guo was stunned, so little? "Do you still have it in your pocket? I need more. ”

The old lady shook her head, and said very regrettably, no, they will fly back to the United States tonight, and only go to the Temple of Heaven Park in the afternoon, and then take the car directly to the airport, and they will not use any foreign exchange coupons, and these in their hands should be brought back as a souvenir. "Maybe they have." The old lady suddenly greeted her companions who were walking to the car.

When the foreign elders heard the call, they gathered around in twos and threes, and some of them were very alert and muttered in a low voice:

"Is it reliable? Maybe a liar. ”

"I don't think so, it's just a matter of exchanging RMB for foreign exchange coupons."

"She speaks English." As soon as the old lady pointed to Tian Guo, it seemed that Chinese who could speak English were certainly not liars.

"Really?" Everyone looked at her in unison, some curious and some scrutinizing. Tian Guo waved at them in a friendly manner, and then explained in English that he was not a liar, but just needed some foreign exchange vouchers and went to the friendship store to buy delicious foreign chocolates. Seeing that she was sincere and polite, and spoke English fluently, the group of foreign old people quickly let down their guard, opened the satchels around their waists one by one, and began to tap the remaining foreign exchange coupons.

It's so good, it's great, even if it hasn't been counted yet, but you can see that the amount of foreign exchange coupons in their hands is definitely a lot. Tian Guo thought about it, and after giving the eldest sister's bicycle money, she asked for the rest. After all, it was a one-to-one equivalent exchange, and she didn't lose a penny, she simply made a fortune.

However, her excitement only lasted for a few seconds before she was interrupted by a sudden scolding voice behind her, "What are you two doing?" ”

Tian Guo looked back and saw that it was actually two security guards of the hotel, there was no word "security" at that time, but the responsibilities were the same. The security guard, who was wearing a blue Zhongshan suit and a red armband on his right arm, saw several foreign guests counting the foreign exchange coupons in their hands, and then looked at Tian Guo, a Chinese, and immediately understood.

"It's illegal to exchange foreign exchange coupons, don't you understand? Get out of here, or I'll call the police. They walked over with angry faces, scolding and driving away Tian Guo and the eldest sister.

"Big brother, let's change a few, just a few." Tian Guo suppressed his anger and begged in a low voice.

The security guard didn't appreciate it, and scolded coldly: "Don't say a few, half a sheet won't work, sue you, if it weren't for the two of you being women, our hotel would be able to arrest the two of you and send them to the police station now." ”

Tian Guo thought to himself, you are bragging, dare to catch me? Kick your "little brother" directly believe it or not?

"Girl, forget it, just for a few foreign exchange coupons, if we enter the police station, it will be too worthless." Obviously, the eldest sister is scared, her family, the work of the lamp factory is good, no matter what the reason for that year, if you are caught in the bureau is a very embarrassing thing, you can't raise your head in the unit and the alley, the eldest sister doesn't want to make a big fuss, she dragged Tian Guo's sleeve to the side, and smiled at the two security guards: "I'm sorry, comrade, we didn't know this was illegal, don't be angry, let's go, let's go!" ”

Tian Guo was unwilling, but at this time, the tour guide also walked out of the hotel, listened to the security personnel, immediately understood what it meant, and quickly persuaded the foreign tourists who were still standing in place to get into the van, and turned his head to reprimand Tian Guo: "Sue you, don't lie to foreigners, give yourself some virtue!" Then he closed the door and walked away.

"Your uncle, who is scolding!" Tian Guo didn't suffer a loss, and scolded by pulling his neck. "Who doesn't accumulate virtue? You don't accumulate virtue! ”

"Forget it." The eldest sister is afraid that something will happen, what kind of place is this? This is the Beijing Hotel. If something really happens and affects the image of Sijiu City, the two of them have to be criticized on "News Network", right?

After working in vain, Tian Guo panted and replied to the old locust tree, and the eldest sister next to her persuaded her not to be angry and regretted, "Hey, it's better to ask for the little exchange coupon in the old lady's hand, we will attract the attention of the hotel as soon as there are many of us."

Tian Guo squatted on the ground and didn't speak, secretly sulking. At this time, out of the Beijing Hotel came an oriental woman with a ponytail and a rather foreign appearance, looking like she was in her thirties, wearing a floral dress and white strappy sandals. She first stood at the door of the hotel and looked around, and then pretended to be casual and walked over to Tian Guo and her eldest sister.

"Are you two waiting for a voucher?" Her Mandarin has a strong Cantonese accent.

Tian Guo was stunned for a moment, raised his head and looked at the woman, "Yes, you have it?" ”

"I have."

Tian Guo had a little more eyes and asked her, "You don't look like a foreigner?" Where did it come from? ”

The woman smiled, but her tone was very cold: "Don't care where I come from, I'll just ask you if you want foreign exchange coupons?" As he spoke, he opened the small black leather bag that straddled his body.